<\/p>\n
DELTA \u2014 Recalling Saturday that in previous games she felt she hadn\u2019t done her obvious nickname justice, Montezuma-Cortez leftfielder Koral \u201cAction\u201d Jackson grinned about the fact that Basalt all-too-happily tested her.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually I haven\u2019t been getting a lot of \u2018action,\u2019\u201d she said, \u201cso to have all these super-high ones \u2026 take so much time to get to you, and there\u2019s so much time to think, like, \u2018What am I going to do?\u2019 and \u2018What if I\u2019m not right underneath it?\u2019 It felt really nice \u2026 to have some that I could actually \u2018play\u2019 with.\u201d<\/p>\n
But despite snagging three potentially damaging flies and scooping as many Basalt hits sent her way, her defense during the final four innings couldn\u2019t spark an M-CHS rally in the first of two clashes with the 3A Western Slope League\u2019s reigning champs at neutral Delta High School.<\/p>\n
And neither could it in the second as the Lady Panthers fell 6-3 and 16-1.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey hit our pitchers really good. They had Taiah (Wilson) timed out,\u201d said head coach Anthony \u2018Hippo\u2019 Frost. \u201cBut I\u2019d rather lose now than later in the season, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pretty crazy to see how much Basalt was hitting, and how we were reacting to it,\u201d said Jackson. \u201cWe were reacting really well in the later half of the (first) game. You could definitely tell in the second game that wasn\u2019t really there, and that\u2019s what blew us away.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a half-hour lunch break, the Longhorns greeted Wilson \u2014 who\u2019d just taken a complete-game loss, despite holding Basalt scoreless from the fifth inning on \u2014 with singles Jackson\u2019s way on each of her first three pitches during the bottom of the first. Lead-off hitter Graci Dietrich belted a 2-RBI double her second time up, and Jenna Power-Smith \u2014 batting eighth in David Miller\u2019s order \u2014 capped the onslaught with a 2-RBI knock to right.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did really well for having to pitch \u2026 that second game, but we were ready for it,\u201d said Basalt senior ace Maya Lindgren, who retired 11 of the last 13 Lady Panthers she saw in Game 1, and outdueled Wilson to earn a complete-game win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hard as a pitcher \u2014 like, I know!\u201d she said, alluding to the fact the Lady \u2019Horns entered the twin bill having already played two others \u2013 Cedaredge and 4A Rifle that same week. \u201cThrowing in two games is \u2026 super-hard on the body, super-hard on your arm. The hitters, they already know what\u2019s coming! They\u2019ve seen everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kyra Reeds then tapped an easy grounder back to an exhausted Wilson, who tossed the ball to Erin Brown at first base to retire the side after being tagged for a numbing 13 runs.<\/p>\n
In reply, M-CHS (7-2, 4-2 WSL) managed only Bri Comisky\u2019s bases-loaded infield fly in the top of the second, plating runner Nizhoni Sam before junior Bella Meraz got Brown to pop foul to first base, then struck out Emily Davidovich.<\/p>\n
Moved from third base to center field so Lizzie Likes could replace Wilson inside the circle, Comisky tracked down two threatening blasts, but Basalt (6-3, 6-1) still manufactured runs by Lindgren and Kiera Larson before Willow Stolley was cut down at the dish, attempting to score on the wild pitch that advanced Larson.<\/p>\n
Meraz (W, CG; 3 IP, H, R, 0 BB, 2 K) then retired Frost\u2019s 1-2-3 sticks in the visitors\u2019 third inning, and the rout ended with Dietrich drawing a no-out, bases-loaded walk off Likes (IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 K, 6 BB) to score Grace Schrock.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were worn out, and I was thrilled with how our girls came out and played,\u201d said Miller. \u201cWe knew it was going to be a ballgame. We know Cortez always fields a good team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaya and Bella, they\u2019re great pitchers, but the difference was that we had strong defense behind them,\u201d he said. \u201cWe knew Cortez hits well, and we knew we had to play good defense; without that, it doesn\u2019t matter how good our pitching is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Panthers learned that lesson in the opening game. Miscues helped Basalt take a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the third when Montezuma-Cortez, aided by an Allie Kibel single and a Rylee Hickman double, struck back with three (Comisky, Brown, Kibel).<\/p>\n
Basalt then managed to pack the sacks with two out in the top of the fourth, and Stolley came through with a vital 2-RBI single before Wilson got Meraz to bounce to Hickman. M-CHS\u2019 shortstop then flipped the ball to Comisky at third, retiring Larson via the 6-5 fielder\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n
Playing third base, Stolley then made a fine play on a Jackson grounder, and Lindgren fanned Comisky and Brown to close out the fourth. Helped by a good catch of a dangerous Kibel fly, Lindgren also set the Lady Panthers down in order in the fifth, allowing only Wilson and Jackson to reach base the rest of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI seriously think if we had no errors that first game, the score probably would have been, I would say, 3-2, and we would have won,\u201d said Frost. \u201cComing back after that, the girls seemed to me like they were mentally and physically ready to play a second game, and we just didn\u2019t show it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just goes to show you that in this league, these girls are scrappy,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it starts in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019d played Rifle on Thursday, I believe, and didn\u2019t do too good (Rifle won 11-1 and 14-11). So we kind of came in with this expectation of \u2018We beat Rifle, we can beat Basalt,\u2019\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were undefeated, and we needed to come in and win,\u201d said Basalt\u2019s Lindgren. \u201cThis was definitely the hardest week of our season, and I think we did really well compared to how many games we just played,\u201d she said. \u201cMy arm\u2019s, like, ready to fall off.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u2019Horns were to have some time off before their Sept. 10 non-leaguer against 4A Palisade. The Panthers will look to rebound Sept. 12, with a noon WSL doubleheader at Cedaredge.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things coach Hippo was talking about was how sometimes you need to lose,\u201d said Jackson. \u201cAnd how that loss opens our eyes: \u2018This is what we need to work on,\u2019 \u2018This was our weak point.\u2019 It\u2019s nice to know we can lose, so that we can\u2019t stop fighting. In Cedaredge \u2026 we need to hit it pretty hard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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